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Isn't it Ironic

Joey and I are hoping that things are going to relent a bit after a good couple months of chaos. Most of you know that Joey got a bizarre sickness that laid him out with extreme fatigue and headaches for 6 days. Anyone who knows Joey at all knows that nothing slows him down so we were both very concerned as were many family members and friends. Joey had blood work and a cat scan done after a few days and praise God the cat scan came back normal and the only abnormality with the blood work was something we hadn't even considered, extremely high cholesterol. I asked the nurse if by "high" she was just trying to scare us or if the numbers were in fact "high" so she proceeded to read the numbers off to me and they are definitely not where they should be. So, although we aren't exactly sure how the high cholesterol and Joey's symptoms correlate and maybe they don't at all we do think it was a blessing to have that warning so that we can begin to do something about it. Obviously diet and exercise are top priority now but, also if this is a genetic deficiency then medication will be required. I am so thankful that they found it out now while Joey is young and we can be proactive about it! Praise God for that and thank you all for your prayers, support and phone calls as it was a trying time. Joey is just now starting to get his energy back which is wonderful!

I got sick just shortly after Joey began to recover last Sunday night. I got some sort of 48 hour type yacking flu. I would like to add that I haven't yacked since I was like 12 years old or something like that so it definitely caught me off guard and since I am pregnant I think my body took it harder than it would have normally. The 48 hour flu ended up being more like a 4 day body beating that took me out of work a couple of days this week as well. Whew!

So, now that Dakota has had her turn with sickness, Joey has had his turn and I have had my turn, hopefuly, in Jesus name, we can put all sickness behind us for the rest of the year! We shall see:)....

Anyways, speaking of irony, along with sickness comes financial burden, or at least in the Martinez household it has. For the record I am not looking for pity here or handouts just trying to share a story:). Anyways, we are of course expecting a child in just six short months which brings it's own massive pile of financial curveballs but, then we had Dakota's vet and surgery bills, Joey cat scan bill and doctor bills an unexpected car tax bill and state department bills, a sister get married, amongst other odd and random bills all within a one month period. Yes, I realize all this is life and I am not complaining, well, not yet. haha. So, last night Joey and I had a bible study with our friends from church and we were talking about how important it is to have a righteous attitude and a praiseworthy attitude even when our lives are in a funk. More specifically, we discussed the bible verse, Philippians 4:8. "Finally, brethren, whatever things ae true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on such things." In other words, our thoughts are just as important as what comes out of our mouths. Our thoughts often dictate the things we say and the actions we take and God is asking us to be careful about what we think about and how we think. Joey and I really enjoyed the bible study and drove home late last night talking about how to apply that message to our current circumstances and we enjoyed the reminder to take care that our thoughts don't get out of hand. We were encouraged and praising God together when all of a sudden those blaring blue lights that belong to the tops of cop cars in North Carolina swirled behind us. Joey and I were both very confused because we did not think that we had been speeding and we wondered what we had done wrong. As we waited for the officer to get to our window we couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of the moment and the odd timing of the ticket we would soon be handed. The officer basically told us that we had been going 51 in what we were sure was a 45 zone but, in fact the officer told us had been a 35 zone for about 3 country houses of road and then became a 45 zone again. I couldn't help but shake my head as the officer handed us that hefty bill of a ticket, and I kept saying to myself, "Think noble thoughts, think praiseworthy thoughts, think pure thoughts" over and over again. haha.

In spite of it all, Praise God because we are so blessed! We have a roof over our heads, food in our stomachs, hot running water, cars to drive, health that we really can't or at least shouldn't complain about, jobs to get us by, and we know so many wonderful people that fill our lives with joy. We are rich by any standard other than the American one:). Thank you for all the well wishes, support, encouragement, flowers, cards, gifts and just for sticking by us through it all. Joey and I couldn't be more thankful or more blessed than we are!

In other news that will make you smile: I have lots of pictures coming in just a day or so. I know they are LONG overdue! Our USB cable for our camera fried so we are waiting for our new one to come in the mail. I will post my first blossoming belly shot at 16 weeks, pictures of the now happy healthy Kota Mota, my visit to see my friends Laura and Elissa and their kids in Virginia this past weekend and I will somehow make Joey get into some of my pictures as well:)

Also, we will be finding out wether our little munckin will be a boy or a girl in less than 3 weeks!!! We are both so excited!!! We have no preference so it will be just as much of a surprise to us but, we can't wait to share the news with you all:). Hang tight. Fun is just around the corner:)!!!!

Oh darling! I am so sorry for the heavy amount of financial burdens that have been placed in your way and all too much understand! But praise God for your attitude during the times. It's something we just talked about in my Bible study, to watch out when we pray for patience, because God will give us circumstances that test it, etc. Same thing you were talking about!! So glad you are all healthy and praying that you stay that way in Jesus' name! Can't wait for the pics! Miss you!

I knew the pup was sick, but I didn't know you two were sick too. I'm glad to hear you are better and you found out what was wrong with Joey. That is scary, but at least you found out now. Hopefully you guys will have health from here on out, this year! I totally get what you mean about everything hitting you at once, financially! Hate that! But keep that good perspective!:)Can't wait to see these picture!!! I hope things are getting better for ya, and food is good again!

Well Casey, I loved what you wrote! I have read that verse over and over again and never thought about my "thoughts" in that way. So true my dear, I am so glad that the Lord has blessed you in wisdom and are able and willing to share it with us. It has been quite a season for you and I know that little peanut of yours will be all the more resiliant for it. You are an amazing woman of God and I pray that the Lord shows His amazing Glory to you all in a great way!

I loved this post. I love that when the cop pulled you over you had to chuckle. Our pastor said recently, "When living by faith, sometimes you just don't know whether to cry...or just laugh!!" I'm proud of you for sticking to what's true and not caving to the gloomy season you're going through. Can't wait for all the new posts!